This is a discussion on Texas: Co-owner sues Condominium Association and Individual Board Members within the Condos & Co-Ops forum, part of the Other Real Estate Law Matters category; I am one of the co-owners of a Condominium Association in Texas. Another co-owner is suing the association and the ...

I am one of the co-owners of a Condominium Association in Texas. Another co-owner is suing the association and the individual board members and manager for damage to his property due to a storm. As per our bylaws our HOA dues cover insurance only for the outside of the units. Each owner can insure the inside at their discretion. The plaintiff chose not to insure his unit. The storm ripped the roof above his unit causing rain to get inside. After manager contacted the owner and the insurance company, the insurance company did not want to pay for any damages claiming that the association did not have storm insurance even though the manager had made payments towards storm coverage. The plaintiff fixed his unit and is suing for reimbursement. In the documents that were served he is using false claims: 1) Plaintif claims that our bylaws state that the association is responsible for insuring coverage of the inside of each unit. 2) Plaintiff claims that the manager knew that property insurance on the common elements had lapsed and that he concealed this information from the plaintiff. Does he have a case? Can the manager sue for defamation of character / slander?

I wish to inform you that a lawsuit for defamation of character can be filed if it can be shown that property owner had spoken false statement about the manager. As regards the lawsuit the contents of bylaws of HOA will have to be seen. In this regard if there is no violation of HOA bylaws then neither HOA nor its manager can be held liable. However if there is a violation of HOA bylaws then HOA can be held liable for compensation to owner for their loss.

I wish to inform you that a lawsuit for defamation of character can be filed if it can be shown that property owner had spoken false statement about the manager. As regards the lawsuit the contents of bylaws of HOA will have to be seen. In this regard if there is no violation of HOA bylaws then neither HOA nor its manager can be held liable. However if there is a violation of HOA bylaws then HOA can be held liable for compensation to owner for their loss.

AFF

In the letter that was served the following sections appear:

PLAINTIFF'S CLAIM FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT. The Bay-Laws state, "Any repairs to the common elements in an individual unit and any damage to an individual unit caused by the common elements shall be the obligation of all the unit owners."

PLAINTIFF'S CLAIM FOR FRAUD BY NONDISCLOSURE. Defendant, (manager), knew that the property insurance on the common elements had lapsed...and concealed from the Plaintiff that the insurance had lapsed...and knew that the Plaintiff did not know the insurance had lapsed and that Plaintiff did not have an equal opportunity to discover the lapse.

As you can see, his false statements against the manager are printed in the letter that was served to the board members. Isn't this proof enough that he is using defamation of character in written form? As for the By-Laws, a storm is not considered a "common element", or can it be construed in his favor as such?

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